For those who can regularly remember their dreams, more activity can be found in the region of the brain that is believed to transition dreams to memory storage.

Part of the reason for this memory recall may involve an individual’s sleeping patterns. Ruby’s team found that people who have high levels of dream recall wake up twice as often during the night when compared to people who have low levels of dream recall.

With greater wakefulness during the night, more memory transfers are believed to occur.

Remembering a dream is just one step on a journey of many when improving dream recall.

​Dreams are a way for people to solve problems while they are sleeping.

​Lucid dreaming is an opportunity to craft brand-new worlds during restful sleep.

The clarity and color of a dream can be intriguing, exciting, and engaging.

Do you want to know how to improve dream recall?

Then here are some methods that could increase the activity in your dream recall centers so more dreams get transferred into your memory over time.

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#1. Develop a Healthy Bedtime Routine

As you fall asleep, you’ll enter the phases of non-REM sleep. The first stage, which can last up to 15 minutes, is a light sleep. During this first stage, it is easy to wake up. As you proceed toward the second stage of sleep, your body temperature will begin to fall. This prepares the brain for a deeper sleep.

The third stage of non-REM sleep, which can also last up to 15 minutes, is deep enough that it becomes difficult to wake a person up from it.

These stages of sleep are important because it is the time when the body begins to repair itself. You build muscle tissue, bones, and your immune strengthens during these stages.

Then REM sleep occurs for about 10 minutes. This is where you can have intense dreams.

After a period of REM sleep, the cycle starts over once again. With every cycle, the dream stage of sleep becomes longer and longer.

One of the best ways to encourage these cycles to occur is to establish a healthy bedtime routine.

Try incorporating these habits to improve dream recall.

Go to bed at the same time every night whenever possible.

Give yourself 30-60 minutes of time away from stimulating activities before sleep.

Avoid eating calorie-rich foods within 3 hours of bedtime.

Stop consuming products with stimulants, such as caffeine, after lunch.

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#2. Take Time to Meditate Daily

Many of the benefits that the body receives during sleep can be duplicated with 15-30 minutes of daily meditation.

Meditating is a way for the brain to process thoughts, become aware of the world, and contemplate greater things than the daily schedule or to-do list.

Meditation also helps the mind and body find ways to relax, even in situations that would normally be highly stressful.

As part of your meditation routine, consider adding positive affirmations. Repeat each phrase below for about 2 minutes before moving to the next one and be sure to follow them in order.

“I am special and beautiful.”

“I will remember my dreams.”

​“I can achieve anything.”

Positive affirmation phrases create self-fulfilling prophecies.

When you can visualize moments of success when working toward dream recall, then the clarity and color of each dream will become easier to remember.

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#3. Train the Brain

Even if you don’t wake up several times during the night to encourage a greater level of dream recall, you do wake up in the morning to start your day.

That is a moment when your brain can transition dreams into a memory.

For those that do not remember their dreams regularly, developing more strength in the transitory process can encourage more dream memories to be stored over time.

To build this strength, try to immediately recall any moments from your dream the instant you wake up.

Every detail is significant because every moment of recall will encourage more moments of recall.

#6. Talk About Your Dreams with Others

Finding ways to be interactive while building a new skill helps the brain retain more information and causes neurons to fire.

Hebbian theory suggests that as more neurons fire, they can build engrams that help to retain the skill being developed at a higher level.

For the skill of dream recall, one of the best ways to be interactive is to talk about your dreams with someone you trust.

It can be a family member, a close friend, or someone who is professionally trained to help others handle dream-generated information.

The act of sharing reinforces the transfer of information into the brain’s memory recall centers.

Talking acts just like writing does because it encourages the brain to remember what just happened in the dream.

It is a good idea to have this conversation in an isolated environment. Talking about your dream at the local coffee shop could be distracting. On a quiet bench in the park might be a better idea.

As you talk about your dream, ask yourself these 4 questions.

How does the dream make me feel right now?

What do I feel, need, or want because of the dream?

Are there circumstances in reality that could be affecting my dream?

How should I respond to my thoughts and feelings about the dream?

By answering these questions with as much specificity as possible, you may discover the reasons behind a specific dream.

Whether you’re processing a stressful problem or creating an environment where you can relax through lucid dreaming, sharing your experiences can help to build the foundation of long-term recall.

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#7. Stabilize your GABA Levels

GABA is a neurotransmitter.

Its job is to block the impulses that occur between the nerve cells within the brain.

By stabilizing the levels of this neurotransmitter, it is possible to improve dream recall, remember with greater clarity, and even enjoy improved color within the memories that are established.

Many people have low GABA levels and do not realize it.

The symptoms of low GABA can be subtle, so they are often ignored or mistaken for a different condition.

If you are experiencing any of the following issues, then low GABA could be a contributing factor to what you are feeling.

Anxiety. Heightened anxiety is often experienced with low GABA. It does not generally evolve into panic attacks or paranoia, but it will cause an individual to begin worrying about everyday circumstances with greater ferocity.

Mood Disorders. If a mood disorder is persistent and other treatment options, such as dialectical behavior therapy, are not helping, then low GABA could be the cause.

Chronic Pain. If there isn’t a determined cause for an individual’s chronic pain, then low GABA should become part of the discussion.

Individuals who have been diagnosed with epilepsy will often have low GABA levels.